KNOWvember: Day One - Ian

Getting to know someone new is the whole point of KNOWvember. But this year I have decided to extend the concept beyond meeting 30 people in 30 days to include new places and things I know nothing about. 
 
I discovered Ian Palm is one such person, when we met in a new place so he could show me the things he creates. 
 
The middle son of an old school friend, Ian and his dad drove from their home in Inverness, Florida to meet me in Gainesville where I was visiting an old friend from summer camp in the 1970’s.

Confession: I met Ian a week before November, but since I was already expanding on the concept, I took the liberty to bend the rules a bit so I could meet him. 

two Ians. two artists. two new friends.

Although I already knew the answer, I asked still asked Ian what he likes to do with his hands. A loaded question to ask a 17-year-old homeschooled boy.  “I like to create stuff. Anything.” At the young age of 14, Ian began to make rings in the family wood shop. Like most teenage boys these days, Ian taught himself the craft by watching videos on YouTube.  
 
He admits that at first his rings were clunky and “too sharp around the edges,” but now he has it figured out enough to create his own brand of jewelry that he sells on Etsy to people all around the world. I could go on and on about all the different styles, but I would invite you to check out his Instagram page, his YouTube channel or shop for something he made at his Etsy store.
 
More than a confident and talkative teenager, Ian is also very contemplative. There is a gentleness in him despite his lumbering 6’3” stature. He seems to be truly interested in learning things. And one of the ways he likes to do that is by...you guessed it, talking to others. 
 
When I asked Ian what he wanted people to know about him after he left a party, he thought for a moment and then smiled and said, “I just want them to know that I care about them and what they are doing.”  And when I asked him to describe what a good deed meant to him, Ian said, “Doing something that makes someone else’s life easier, and more enjoyable, more positive.”

If you had met him personally like I did, you might have come to the same conclusion I did. This is no ordinary human, or teenager. For starters, he left his phone in the car. He actually enjoys engaging in conversation. And he has no problem speaking for himself.

But there’s more to know about a person. So here are a few more things I learned that I thought you’d find interesting about him.
 
He prefers creamy peanut butter over chunky, “Creamy any day. It’s better. I think it’s made differently.” He also thinks soup is a meal. Yes, we disagreed on this. But he made an excellent argument for his decision, “You eat it. You get full.” 

 When asked where is one place that you have visited that you’d never go back to,  he told me “that trailer we stayed in at the Ocala National Park. It was sticky, covered in dog hair, and gross.” But can I trust this to be true? After all, Ian said his favorite lie is “telling people I’m not doing anything, just to dodge their question.”
 
Ian is a ring maker, a great listener, and a well rounded human who I got the pleasure to spend two hours with. In that time I learned we had so much more in common than just a name. We share a creative spirit, and struggle with an inquisitive mind that is always searching for something greater to learn or do. We also have this moment. May there come a time when we can share more like this.

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